Chapter 91

The Truth

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

"Flashback"

"Magic"

Location/Date/Time Change

Invel smiled as he stared at the two chained wizards. "Now have at it. The winner gets to live." Both turned against their will and blasted each other with their respective elements. They cried out in pain before starting to trade kicks before Gray pulled on the chain and flipped Juvia over.

'Gray will win this fight, just as I predicted.' Invel thought with a sick smile. 'Killing his dear friend with his own two hands will unleash the darkness within him, creating the apex warrior who shall defeat END. His majesty will vanquish Acnologia, then the world will truly be his. But to fully realize this goal, END must be removed.'

Juvia raised her hand and turned it into a blade of water, which quickly froze in the icy wind. "Don't bother resisting. My Ice Lock imprisons your mind. It's cold shackles confined you will. To be released, you must kill the one before you." Invel declared, only to watch as Juvia shove the blade into her own gut.

"You… brought the best of me." She groaned out, only to find that Gray had done the same thing.

"Juvia… you didn't have to…" He gasped out.

'They both would rather end their lives!?' Invel asked himself. 'What the hell is going on here!?'

"There was no other choice…" Gray continued. "I could never hurt you, Juvia… I just wanted to protect you…"

"You made my last moment… a kind one." Juvia gasped out before both fell over, hitting the ground.

'I never saw this coming. They couldn't live with the guilt of killing their friend, so they killed themselves…' Invel couldn't process the act as the chain faded into mist. 'The fools, both of them. I'll have to think of another strategy, but as things stand now, the only option left is deal with END myself.' The storm of ice died as Invel walked away.

Gray gasped in shock as he coughed up blood. 'How… I'm still alive…' He pushed himself up, finding a tube flowing with blood connecting his arm to Juvia. 'No, no!' He crawled over and cradled Juvia in his arms, trying to rouse her. "No, you can't die… Juvia…!"

Invel marched through the frozen landscape as he looked around. "I believe Brandish was headed in this direction…" A pulse of dark energy froze him in place as he turned around, finding an enraged Gray marching towards him. "This is… impossible. How are you even still breathing? It doesn't matter. You won't be able to fight with that-"

A punch to the face cut him off, sending him to the ground. Another fist sent him flying into a wall, forcing to the general to drag along the ground. 'This man is… so be it, I will unleash my ultimate weapon…' Ice covered his body and took the form of armor before he caught another fist. The ice crept onto Gray, only for Invel to watch as it was molded off of him and Gray pulled his hand away.

"You stole Juvia's future away from her!" He shouted, his arms clad in dark ice. "You're the only one who's going to shatter to pieces, you son of a bitch! Ice Devil's Zeroth Destruction Fist!" A double punch sent Invel crashing to the ground, his armor shattered into chunks of ice. Standing over Invel, Gray wiped the blood away from his mouth. "I can pound on you as much as I want, but it won't bring Juvia back."

Invel laughed as he looked up at the sky. "As long as E.N.D. exists, you are doomed to forever suffer misfortune and heartache."

"Don't need to tell me twice. That's why I'm going to kill E.N.D." He replied.

"It's more like you are the only one who CAN defeat E.N.D." Invel added. "But you are still blissfully unaware of its true identity… E.N.D., the strongest demon in all of the books of Zeref, is a man you know all too well… Etherious Natsu Dragneel…" He passed out from the battle, leaving a stunned Gray

With a thud, Natsu and the others landed on the ground. "What the hell're you trying to do!?" He shouted, Lisanna lying on top of him.

"Brandish, please!" Happy shouted. "We didn't know anything about Mest's plan!"

"Why'd you grab me!?" Lisanna asked, hiding Happy behind her.

Brandish shrunk back down to normal size, looking at Laki. "Oh, with all that snow in the air, I thought you were Lucy." She confessed, confusing them even more. "Regardless, I'm your guilds debt for saving my life. So I plan on a special exception for the pinky and the cat."

"Special exception?" Happy repeated.

"I am a loyal citizen of the empire. I have no intention of betraying Alveraz." Brandish continued, looking at Natsu. "So, I plan on leaving you and the cats alive, as well as Lucy. Everyone else, I plan to annihilate, including the girl next to you."

"Do you even realize what that sounds like to us?" Natsu asked back.

"No matter how you look at it, we will be the victors. That has long been set in stone." She said back. "The sheer number of our forces, and the skill levels of the Spriggan 12, August… Irene… And on top of that, the fact that the Emperor, at this very moment, is in the middle of obtaining the Fairy Heart… it can only mean one thing. Whatever sliver of hope your side had of winning has now been reduced to zero."

"Those are just words… we ain't gonna know until we try…" Natsu growled out.

"You may not know, but I do." She replied. "Let me be clear, all of your friends will die today."

"Do really think I'll just sit here and watch them die?" He asked back.

"Fairy Tail has survived dozens of hopeless battles." Lisanna declared. "This will be no different."

"You know not the true strength and terror of the 12." Brandish replied.

"You wanna play that game, fine…" Natsu declared. "You all have no clue just how terrifying Fairy Tail can be."

"Did you forget what happened on Caracolle Island?" She asked back. "If we so desired it, all of the 12 could crush you in an instant."

"Try it, I dare you." He snapped back. "I never asked you to spare us… there's no need to overlook nothing. We decided to come here, we knew what we were getting into, we knew what was on the line!"

Footsteps caught their attention and they turned to see another man walking forward. "Lady Erza… where is Lady Erza…" Neinhart growled out.

"Those eyes…" Brandish realized something was wrong immediately.

"You bear witness to the power of Lady Irene's Enchantment Technique." He chuckled. "Now stand aside, Brandish. These pitiful mages are allies of Lady Erza. In other words, our enemies." Neinhart pushed the vernette out of his way, sending her crashing into a wall.

"Bastard!" Natsu shouted as he charged forward.

"Stop it! You can't hope to match his strength now!" Brandish declared.

"It ain't about if I can match him or not!" He snapped back, cuts from magic appearing on his arms. "It's about pushing forward! We march forward, one step at a time! That's what we do! That is the path of our guild!" A single punch hit Neinhart and sent him crashing away, knocking him out and stunning Brandish.

Juvia groaned in pain as she suddenly opened her eyes. "Hold still! Don't try and move just yet." She looked up to find Wendy healing the stomach wound she gave herself.

"If she had found you even a moment later, your life really would have been in danger." Carla declared.

"To be more precise, it was thanks to Carla's visions that we were able to find you." Wendy chuckled.

"I'm… alive…?" Juvia groaned. "Thank you, Wendy." She suddenly pushed herself up, looking around. "Wait, where's my darling Gray!? Is he safe!?"

"He wasn't here when we arrived…" Carla replied.

Natsu stared at the smoldering unconscious body of Neinhart before turning to Brandish. "If you plan on getting in our way, then I'll have no choice but to fight you too." He declared.

"What a pain…" Brandish huffed before Natsu suddenly collapsed, clutching his chest.

Lisanna and Happy rushed forward, his girlfriend catching him. "Natsu, what's wrong?"

Happy slowly turned to Brandish, horror in his eyes. "You didn't…"

"It seems you finally remembered that I'm the one that shrunk his tumor on the first place." Brandish replied. "I simply returned it to its original size."

"Why would you do that!?" The Exceed asked.

"Because that man is a threat, nothing more, nothing less." She declared.

Lisanna was suddenly behind her and swinging her claws, tearing the cloak on the vernette. "Fix what you've done!" She shouted, her entire arms like a white tigers.

"I told you that I plan to kill you regardless." Brandish declared, catching an arm and unleashing a kick that sent her foe flying away. Lisanna slid back and dug her claws into the ground, slowing her down. She glared at Brandish as her body glowed, gaining nine fox tails and a shrining maiden outfit.

"Take Over: None-Tailed Fox!" Brandish raised her hand and the pebbles on the ground grew into boulders, forcing Lisanna to jump between rocks. Brandish reshrunk the last one, only to find Lisanna had ignored it and jumped at her. "Fox Strike!" A palm strike hit the gut and sent Brandish flying back.

The vernette suddenly stopped as her arm expanded and wrapped around Lisanna. Returning it to normal, she pulled it back as Lisanna had shrunk in her grasp. "You're fluffy…" She mumbled before squeezing on Lisanna, cracking several ribs. "It'll be a shame to kill you…"

"Let her go!" Happy suddenly crashed into the back of Brandish's head, forcing her to let go as Lisanna returned to normal size. Both readied to fight harder than ever for the man behind them as Brandish wiped some blood from her mouth.

"Enough." All three looked over to see a blonde walk forward, Brandish's eyes wide in fear. "You can end this little farce now."

"Mari…" The vernette mumbled in fear.

"What are you talking about?" Lisanna asked.

"Don't you get it… Randi could have killed you from the start of this battle if she really wanted to." Dimaria replied, shocking the 'mother and son'. "If she really wanted to, she could have made his organs explode from the inside. Or shrunk you small enough to crush you beneath her feet. So why didn't you?"

"St-" Brandish failed to finish her sentence as her ally suddenly walked by her, slashes appearing all over her body.

"You're no good to us anymore, Randi." The blonde replied, Brandish falling to the ground. Instantly, the blonde was on top of Lisanna, the blonde's foot on the back of her neck. "Tell me, are you the one responsible for this? I'll make sure your death is slow and painful, you little bitch."

Fairy Tail Guildhall

Standing over a motionless Mavis, Irene smirked as magic floated out of the guild master. "I specialize in detaching magic and yet, never have before has it taken this much time for me to extract magic from someone."

"Irene…" The redhead turned sound to see Zeref walking over. "I'd like you to stay your hand for a moment."

His request caught her off guards. "Exactly what is the meaning of this?"

"I wish to have one final conversation with Mavis, just the two of us." The Emperor declared.

"You're saying that now, when we're so close to the finish line?" She questioned. "Pardon my saying so, but this is beyond a foolish suggest-"

"I require but three minutes. Could you not allow me that amount of time?" Before Irene could answer, a second Zeref rushed forward. "Irene! It's not me, it's an imposter!"

The first Zeref vanished from sight as Irene turned around, finding her hand going through 'Mavis'. "An illusion?! How is this possible!?"

"It seems that Invel has been incapacitated as well…" Zeref told the angering redhead.

"You're telling me that I… of all people… was so handedly deceived?" She growled out.

"Pursue her, immediately." Zeref declared. "Remember, you mustn't wound her under any circumstances."

"With pleasure…" Irene declared, walking out of the guild.

Outside, Mavis was climbing down the mountain her guild hall was now on. "To think the day would come that I'd have to flee from my own guild…" She mumbled. "I need to reconvene with the others by any means possible… however, given my current position, reuniting with them will prove exceptionally difficult…"

"How about an escort then?" She turned around and found Mest offering her hand. The two teleported away and appeared next to Lucy, Levy and Gajeel.

"First Master!" The blonde cheered.

"Sorry for causing you all this trouble." The cursed girl replied. "Now, the time has come for all of us to return to the place where we belong… our home… our guild!"

Brandish groaned in pain as she laid on the ground. "There you are!" Porlyusica rushed forward, Evergreen right behind her. The vernette managed to open her eyes to find the medic kneeling over her. "What has become of Natsu!? I was wrong before! The tumor you shrunk, it wasn't anti-ethernano. I fear it's something much worse."

An unconscious Lisanna was strapped to a chair, anti-magic cuffs on her wrists and ankles. "You did this… you killed my Randi!" Dimaria declared as she forced the head upwards. "Now… what sort of tortuous hell shall I show you to make you repent?"

Groaning in pain, Lisanna slowly opened her eyes and looked up, finding Natsu tied to a chair. She lurched forward only to find herself stuck to a chair herself. "Anti-Magic cuffs?"

"Ishgar has some pretty convenient tools, wouldn't you say?" She looked up to find 'Mari' standing next to the chair, glaring down at her. "Not long ago, I was almost done in by them as well. Restrained, tied up and looking pitiful… just like you are now."

"How… could you do that to your friend?" Lisanna gasped out.

"No, no… you were the one who broke her." 'Mari' replied before suddenly appearing next to Natsu. She waved her hand and Lisanna found that the blonde had taken her top off.

"Why'd you do that!?" She shouted back.

"Oh, don't worry." 'Mari' chuckled, throwing the shirt to the ground. "I'll strip this guy too, and then you'll be in the same boat." She pulled Natsu's head up, finding his eyes closed. "The punk hasn't moved at all. Is he already dead or what?" Lisanna blinked and found the blonde kneeling in her face. "What beautiful blue eyes… are all the people here born with them?"

Drawing her sword, she pointed the blade directly at her face. "Just looking at them pisses me off. I suppose gouging them out would be a good place to start, don't you think?" Lisanna just stared at her in defiance. "No tears or screaming? You're killing the mood."

"You think I'm scared of you?" Lisanna asked. "My eyes don't mean anything to me. Even if I can't see anything again, I'll remember everything about this town and the people in it. All my friends and family in Fairy Tail, their smiles and tears, they'll live within me. So just do it then! I'm not scared of the likes of you!"

"Fine! How about I carve that pretty face into ribbons and leave it covered in scars!?" 'Mari' thrusted her blade forward, intent on fulfilling her word.

Lisanna awoke on the floor, her chair busted to bits and blood covering her face. Wiping it off, she opened her eyes and found them working. "What happened? I'm… okay?" She quickly looked around for Natsu, finding only the blonde beaten into the wall with smoke seething off her.

"Mon… ster…" 'Mari' gasped out. "It's… a monster…"

'Did… Natsu do this?' Lisanna asked herself in shock.

"That it… could move freely within 'my time'…" The blonde groaned out. "I've never seen anything… like it… Something like this… it could only be E.N.D.…"

"Lisanna!" Happy flew into the room and tackled his 'mother' in a hug.

"Natsu isn't with you?" The healer asked, the younger girls following in behind.

"Randi…" Dimaria panted, looking at the friend she tried to kill.

"Bind Mari with those restraining stones at once." Brandish declared. "She can stop time, so dealing with her attacks would be quite troublesome."

"Just what happened here?" Evergreen asked.

"Something dark…" Porlyusica declared. "Whatever I diagnosed as a tumor was something far more. When this girl attacked Lisanna, it triggered some kind of awaking…"

"I need to find Natsu!" Lisanna declared, quickly transforming into her tiger form and rushing out of the room, Happy flying right behind her.

Clad in the darkest flames, Natsu marched forward with single minded focus. "Zeref… where is Zeref…" Looking up at the guild hall, he flexed his now talon like fingers. "There… he is…"

A single man walked forward, unbothered by the heat Natsu was emanating. "Natsu…"

"Gray…" E.N.D. mumbled, the two glaring back at each other.